Takeaways: Maryland men's basketball escapes with narrow win vs. UMBC

Ahmed Ghafir
12 hours ago
4 min read

Takeaways from Maryland men’s basketball’s narrow exhibition win vs. UMBC:

Offense a clear work in progress

Maryland made paint touches an emphasis early with Pharrel Payne touching the ball on each of the first five possessions, recording his first block and field goal as a Terp just 36 seconds into the game. Payne led the way with 26 points, including 15 in the first half as one of four Terps to hit at least on FG, but the Terps’ offensive struggles began to shine early on Monday.

Andre Mills showcased his scoring touch as a slashing guard as he split primary ball-handling duties with Darius Adams as the backcourt duo teamed up with Payne to score all 17 of Maryland’s points through the first eight minutes. But outside shooting remained a concern – and so did taking care of the ball.

Darius Adams hit the team’s first three-pointer with 91 seconds left in the first half, moving to 1-of-6 as a team through the opening half and finishing 5-of-15 from deep, with the team showing little ability to score outside of the paint until the closing minutes of the game.

In fact, Darius Adams, Guillermo Del Pino and Elijah Saunders showed late sign of life with their outside shooting touch after hitting consecutive possessions to keep it a one possession game for nearly the entirety of the final 5:32. Saunders flashed with a midrange jumper in the opening minutes of the second half, a sign of what was to come after scoring 11 of his 13 points in the second half. Maybe the biggest surprise was George Turkson Jr., who finished a perfect 3-of-3 from the field including a three-pointer in the final minute to give Maryland the lead for good. Of course, the inactives limiting Maryland’s production should be taken into account, but the Terps’ offense left more to be desired with the offense’s success seemingly sitting on Pharrel Payne’s shoulders. To be fair, Payne showed early signs of being the alpha dog that has long been expected from him since transferring from Texas A&M.

In the end, Payne was one of four to finish in double figures alongside Adams (19), Saunders (13) and Turkson (11).

Ball handling duties

This is another that will likely look different once Maryland is at full strength with both Rice and Coit expected to play primary factors as ball-dominant guards this season, but with both inactive and Rice sporting a boot, Maryland leaned on freshmen Darius Adams and Guillermo Del Pino with Andre Mills filling early minutes as the point guard. But it yielded mixed results with Maryland finishing with 17 turnovers against eight assists, with Saunders and Payne tied for a team-high four giveaways in the narrow win.

Buzz Williams noted the high turnover rate in the win with Maryland’s ball handling duties a work in progress with the young guards leading the way on Monday night.

“Tonight, we turned it over too much and we allowed them too many extra possessions on the offensive glass,” Williams said postgame. “And so from a statistical standpoint, it was fairly close to a push in regards to shooting more balls. But it was because we played with too high of a turnover rate and we allowed them to get too many extra possessions on the offensive glass.”

Defensive rotations

One area that isn’t much of a concern for Maryland is rebounding with several players consistently seen crashing the board, helping Maryland control the boards in both halves and end the night +16 in the category, long considered a staple of a Buzz Williams-led team.

But that doesn’t mean the defense didn’t show early signs of weaknesses with players slow in defensive rotations on some possessions, while others featured miscommunication, as at times two players attempted to alter UMBC’s outside shot. Still, it didn’t prove much of a deterrent as the Retrievers shot over 42% from three to propel the second-half run to tighten the game. What worked well early was Maryland's defense, holding UMBC to more turnovers than field goals through the first four minutes as Buzz Williams' squad bounced between man and zone through the first half.

Injury bug hitting Maryland ahead of the season opener

Marland’s biggest concern didn’t show up on the floor on Monday – depth is a concern for Maryland ahead of next week’s season opener vs. Coppin State. Myles Rice became the latest victim of the injury bug after sporting a boot on his right foot during warmups, a new injury after sources spotted the Indiana transfer during Saturday’s practice. Diggy Coit and Isaiah Watts, two top veteran players expected in Maryland’s rotation, were also inactive while Solomon Washington remains in a boot with the expectation that he’ll now miss the first week of the regular season, likely targeting a return the week of Nov. 10 ahead of the critical Nov. 15 road game vs. Marquette. Rakease Passmore, meanwhile, has already been announced as a season-ending injury to serve as a blow to depth on the wing.

Head coach Buzz Williams declined to provide an update on the injured players, though did note the quick change in the team’s status after Myles Rice suffered an ankle injury in the day leading up to the game.

“As of this time last night, we had more healthy bodies than we did at tipoff," Williams said postgame.

Maryland will look to get a pair of veteran guards back for the season opener in both Coit and Watts.

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